Video game actors’ strike continues over AI protections.

The video game actors' strike has entered its second week, and there doesn't seem to be any progress in getting back to the bargaining table.

SAG-AFTRA, the union that represents about 160,000 actors, actresses and other professionals in the entertainment industry, has walked away from negotiations with several video game publishers, citing unacceptable terms regarding the use of artificial intelligence in video game production. The strike began on Friday, July 26.

The dispute stems from the limited protections offered by video game studios, which have limited access to certain actors, said Ray Rodriguez, SAG-AFTRA's chief contracting officer.

“One of the most important issues has to do with the scope of protection,” Rodriguez told Decrypt. “Until last Wednesday, the organizers' position was clear that these protections would only be offered to voice actors, not camera operators.”

He noted that the video game industry uses stunts, movement and creative actors, whose voices are not necessarily involved in production and are being left out.

The strike affects video game developers such as Activision Productions, Electronic Arts Productions, Epic Games and Warner Bros. Games.

Rodriguez said the contracts currently being offered by game publishers offer some protections for on-camera actors, but with exceptions that undermine those protections for on-camera and voice actors.

“For example, to qualify for the protection that's being offered, a digital copy of a performer must be under a management-provided contract, which must be identifiable as that performer,” Rodriguez said. “If you think about how video games work, if I'm doing statistical work to motivate a soldier, that soldier might not be like me.

He added that actors who do voice work for a character cannot be identified in the same way.

“So they're ostensibly providing this level of protection, but when you read the specifics and compare those specifics to how video games work, they're not really giving us these protections,” he said.

Rodriguez said there is a fight to fight the unauthorized use of SAG-AFTRA The similarity of the members is related to much larger cases involving deep fakes generated by AI. And misinformation is spread using AI.

“The players are kind of the canary in the coal mine in a lot of ways, which is directly related to how they make a living,” Rodriguez said. “In fact, it's dangerous for everyone. [AI recreations] It can be done freely, and we can no longer trust what we see and hear because we don't know if we're listening to – or watching – the right person or someone we're making the computer look and feel like.

“It's a real existential crisis for practitioners, but it's an existential crisis for all of us,” he continued.

Video game publishers, meanwhile, expressed disappointment at SAG-AFTRA's decision to walk away from the table and said they were prepared to resume negotiations.

“We found consensus on 24 of the 25 proposals,” a spokesperson for the video game producers told Decrypt.

“These terms are among the strongest in the entertainment industry,” the spokesperson added.

Last year, members of the association collapsed after contract negotiations with the Association of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) over the use of generative AI brought Hollywood productions to a standstill. In November, the SAG-AFTRA actors' strike ended with new AI protections.

However, not everyone was happy. Voice actors complained that the January agreement between SAG-AFTRA and Replica Studios did not give members a chance to vote on the decision, with some saying the voice actors should leave SAG-AFTRA and form their own union.

Rodriguez said SAG-AFTRA is ready to resume talks even if the strike continues.

“Negotiations don't stop just because you go on strike — really, the only way to stop is to reach a negotiated settlement,” Rodriguez said. “So we're absolutely open to that. We are ready, willing and able to continue negotiations here, and I hope it will be sooner rather than later.

Edited by Ryan Ozawa.